other reasons. >> i would guarantee if there is a fiscal cliff agreement, this stock shoots up big time. >> capital gains. that's all about capital gains in my mind. i cited other things i think are a problem but capital gains is why they're selling. >> have a great weekend, everybody. "power" starts right now. >> announcer: halftime is over. "power lunch" and the second half of the trading day start right now. >>> indeed it does. and today on "power lunch," no progress. a very stark assessment from the house speaker on where the fiscal cliff talks stand with 24 days to go. where should you put your money heading into this weekend? could be a very crucial weekend. >>> no worries. with the unemployment rate still near an 8% level, why some companies can't find workers. there's work and it is not a skills gap. we'll show you what else is being factored in to that equation. >>> and no fair, perhaps? well, a big change at big blue. ibm changing the way it pays down its 401(k). will other companies follow suit? tyler mathisen, my partner, who is always fair, always working, and is always a w

" when it comes to the fiscal cliff. but tim geithner just told cnbc that we're going to go over the cliff unless tax rates go up. at the same time, two dozen republican house members signed a bipartisan letter with democrats defecting from the boehner plan. in the meantime, a nice game for the day for the dow, but a stunning selloff for apple. do you know what? fiscal cliff or not, the s&p 500 is up 12% year to date. that is a handsome gain for investors, an optimistic year, believe it or not. and we already bailed out detroit's auto industry. but now, at least one motown politician is telling president obama he should bail out detroit bankrupt city government, too. this sure isn't the free market, and i asked why should a texas taxpayer bail out detroit? >>> breaking news from syria, and it is a blockbuster. the assad regime is walking and loading its chemical weapons, ready to use them on its own people. nbc's chief pentagon correspondent joins us now. jim, is this the red line president obama was warning about? >> well, not quite yet. u.s. officials tell us that the syrian milita

exchange. and stocks are higher as fiscal cliff song and dance continues in washington. mr. boehner says he is waiting for a proposal from this gentleman, the president. president obama. and the president is set to speak about the cliff and the a economy later today. >> i thought i was supposed to come here today. you thought you were supposed to come here today. so we are both here. not really, folks. a lot of talk today is about what investors should do if we go over the cliff. what should we do if there is a debt deal before year-end or shortly thereafter. we have smart strategies and individual stock picks for you this hour. >> that's right. well also take a look at another side of google that you very rarely hear about. the internet giant stashing billions in tax shelters to avoid paying taxes. is that fair play or outrageous corporate behavior? especially in this climate. well talk about that. but first, markets are generally higher. dow jones industrial average up 29 points on the day. nasdaq is up 7. and s&p 500 up about 1 1/2. >> they've been that way about the last ten days or

one we have now with the fiscal cliff? no, the time is to act now. unfortunately, this is not a problem that's going away by burying our heads in the sand. there are hard decisions to make, painful decisions. to suggest that we wait a year to make them means we are not serious about making those decisions at all. that will do it for us today on "closing bell." "fast money" begins right now. stay with cnbc. a lot more to come before tomorrow's big day on wall street. have a good night, everybody. >>> stocks stuff. >> the market has spent days agonizing over 1414 so we'll see how that holds up. >> politicians in gridlock. >> i have just started. that is a bad strategy for america. that's a bad strategy for your business. and it is not a game that i will play. >> apple shutting down. >> apple is falling and falling fast. now slipping back into bear market territory having its worst day in more than one year. >> will anything get moving before the end of the year? we find out right now. live from the nasdaq market site at new york city, time scare, it's melissa lee. geithner and the

requirements. and then there's the fiscal cliff. analysts citing fears about a hike in capital gains tax in 2013. rick santelli has been talking about this, though, the things that were up in 2012, those are the things being sold now, whether that be gold or any number of assets that rose appreciably over the course of the last year. we'll be talking about the future of apple and the outlook for its stock a little later this morning with jonathan geller of the boy genius report. >> good old bump on the road on the way to a trillion dollar market cap. got to 600 pretty easily. and now it's back at 500. above 600 i guess. tough to get to a trillion dollar market cap. cisco got to 600 billion once, too. it's at 100 billion. apple still at 500. we talked about are they going to come out with the chartreuse slightly smaller mini ipad. and that's going to be the -- a lot of people waiting in line for that one. >> i do have to say, i'm in the market for a mini ipad. >> not for the max ipad? >> no, i want something smaller to carry around, but bigger than my phone. >> i have a hard time seeing m

supposed to be weak due to worries about the fiscal cliff. with $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts set to start next year, why aren't more firms postponing hiring decisions? >> what we're hearing from businesses is that it is really hard to actually pull back hiring right now, because they've already fired so many workers, gotten so lean that it's really difficult. >> reporter: but not all the surprises in the report were good. at 7.7%, the unemployment rate hit its lowest level since december 2008. but that was mostly due to people giving up their search for work. and there's another disappointing trend, weak wage growth. >> what we are not seeing is strong income generation. the slowing in wage gains-- the weak bargaining power of labor comes across in this report and >> reporter: so although the labor market is not getting worse, it's not getting a lot better, either. and there are plenty of risks that could cause businesses to cancel projects, and hiring plans. >> clearly one of the biggest risks is that we don't see a deal on the fiscal cliff, or that

another week in the fiscal cliff negotiations. >> tom: that and more tonight on "n.b.r."! >> susie: the job market is proving to be surprisingly resilient. american employers hired 146,000 workers in november, much more than expected. and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, the lowest level since december of 2008. as erika miller reports, that wasn't the only surprise in today's report. >> reporter: almost no one on wall street saw this good news coming. there was every reason to think hiring would be weak last month. after all, many parts of the east coast are still recovering from devastation caused by superstorm sandy. >> i think the most likely explanation here is sandy's impact was significant but was so short-lived that it didn't extend to the sample period of the employment report which was the week that covered november 12. >> reporter: hiring was also supposed to be weak due to worries about the fiscal cliff. with $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts set to start next year, why aren't more firms postponing hiring decisions? >> what we're hearing

today the start of a santa claus rally despite the fears over the fiscal cliff? rick, let me kick this off with you. what kind of expectations are out there on this fiscal cliff story? we seem to feel that there's a deal in the air. why else do we see such optimism today? rick? >> oh, for me? i'm sorry. i'll tell you what, maria, i'm not sure what's going on in washington. i'm not sure who those republicans are. i'm not so sure on whether the fiscal conservatives in the party know something about some big reforms on medicare and medica medicare, social security is, any of the retirement or tax issues, but i'll tell you this. i think that all these stories aren't necessarily going lead us to the truth. i personally have a very size way i'm approaching this. the president is supposed to leave for a 21-day vacation in hawaii on december 17th. where he is on december 18th will tell me, and i think the markets will pay attention. i find it hard to believe, and i agree with bill and many, who are very not amused by the house taking their long weekend. i'm sure that the president would have n

. stock prices on wall street modestly higher today i did spite no sign of a deal on the fiscal cliff. take a look how we're settling out this thursday afternoon on wall street. the industrial average at 13,074. the s&p up just a fraction. will the markets get a boost from another cash infusion? ben pace says he's expecting the federal reserve to announce another round of stimulus at the meeting next week. is that what the markets really want right now? ben pace joins me along with chris heize and rick santelli. ben, let's talk fed policy. you think the fed announces qe-4 next week? >> i think it's the fact the twist operation is ending at the ends of the year, and they don't feel compelled to incrementally tighten that. that means it has to be replaced. that's the qe-4, the fact they'll continue to buy to continue to be just as easy as they've been since the september 16th qe- 3 announcement. >> so you think it's a continuation. what's the impact on the market, do you think? is it priced in? are we expecting that? what do you think? >> i think it's generally priced in. the thing that conce

think the next six months are going to be very tricky. i think the fiscal cliff uncertainty is going to continue t actually. so i'm a little more bearish in the near term. then i think it's a sell-off, if there is one, that should be bought aggressively for a rally in the end of 2013 that would be the beginning of a new bull market. >> when you say a rally towards the end of next year, do you think over the course of 2013 it's going to end higher? we're going to be higher than where we are right now? >> yeah, i mean, i think ultimately 2013 ends up higher at the end. i think we're going to go -- we're going to test some lower resistance in the first six, seven months of the year. we have so much uncertainty in washington. we do have slowing economies in europe and in the u.s. >> right. david, what do you say right now? break the tie for us. >> break the tie. in the near term, there's an epic tug of war between extremely aggressive monetary easing and just total disdain for what they're doing in washington on tax and regulatory policy. in the near term, the fiscal cliff prevails

way on hopes of a compromise on the fiscal cliff stalemate in washington. eamon javers standing by in a moment with information on a bipartisan letter from lawmakers that's. putting tax hikes and entitlement cuts firmly on the table. >> i'm bill griffeth. let's show you, and the charts tell the day's story, as it usually does. can you get when the president began speaking at business round table and we learned that at least 40 house republicans are breaking ranks to talk about anything, all possibilities as they said in an open letter. right now the dow is up 110, near the highs of the day. 13,062.59. the nasdaq is going the other direction. blame apple and overall technology having a tough day. down 13 points right now on the nasdaq at 2982. the s&p is holding with a gain of about five points. we'll have more on the markets in a moment. first, let's get to what's going on in washington. more republicans breaking ranks to join what we hope will be a bipartisan call for higher tax rates and entitlement cuts. eamon javers on capitol hill has the very latest details for us. eamon. >> rep

nice numbers. this supposedly is fiscal cliff related selling as shareholders worries that capital gains tax rates will be higher next year. >> still, financial planner sharon appleman says selling stock solely for tax reasons isn't the best idea. >> i definitely think it's a legitimate concern and can be an opportunity. and i would say if somebody was interested in reducing a physician any-- position anyway, that can certainly be a great time to do it, you know, why pay higher taxes in a few months time when you can pay a lower tax now. >> reporter: and some analysts say, before unloading the shares, consider that fundamentals for apple haven't really changed. sure, revenue growth may slow and margins may contract, and there are worries the tech giant will have trouble fending off competition from increasingly popular android products. but, to some analysts, the shares look especially cheap today, especially considering their move south since the september high. >> we think the smart phone trend is still in the early to middle innings and is not in the late innings yet. so we thin

"street signs." where stocks are dualing it out. good data on one fis, fiscal cliff fears on the other. if we hit the cliff, is defense done as an investment? we'll find out. >>> plus the latest on why fast food workers are working to unionize and maybe even strike across america. >>> and the scary story about the surge in spooks. how spies apparently are everywhere now, mandy. >> and you wouldn't even know. >>> let's load you up on some vital stats. firstly, december is historically the best performing month of the year but today the dow and s&p are down for the first time in four days. dow was up 61 points before the disappointing ism data at 10:00 a.m. this morning. it has never recovered. s&p is flirting with a three-week high even though it is slightly lower. nasdaq touched a one-month high earlier on. >>> never doubt the power of of the american consumer is what we always say here on "street signs." holiday shopping season is in full swing and that, my good people, has propelled the s&p retail next to a record high early again today, though as we speak it is slightly lower.

between the white house and top republicans have collapsed with one month to go before the fiscal cliff. our traders for the hour, joe terranova, stephanie link, simon baker, josh brown. they're ready with your best plays right now. and joe terranova, play this market. >> 4:00 this morning when i got up, i turned on the screens. looked at where the market was and tweeted directly to stephanie. if you are a money manager, you were asked at 4:00 in the morning, why is the market here, why is it not lower? well, it's now 12:00, scott, and after the ism, the s&p futures trading 14, 15, the same question. why is the market here? it should be lower, given all the fundamentals going on in the marketplace right now. that tells you, there's something going on here psychologically that goes beyond the negativity that we see out of d.c. maybe the street is smarter than we expect. but you are seeing a little bit of a lift. and any market that's quiet, you never sell it. >> josh, the market is hanging in. >> short-term traders are really nervous about missing a santa claus rally. so you're seeing this ki

and shot up 1421 and sttrted to back off. the fiscal cliff is hanging on the market. as soon as you see john boehner talk for obama it doesn't matter. the market seems to come off of that news. traders have got to look out if there's a joint announcement, chances are they're close to a deal, we will see the market higher. look out for that. dave: let's get off of stocks and deal with oil. we see oil slipping a bit and you see a point at which you might stop and that is $84.50. that is the point we have got to look at coming in next week as the starting point for this drop. phil: we have come down to that range several times over the last few weeks and that is when you had highest level supply out there and you didn't really have much geopolitical risk. we start to come back to that mode so we will scale back to that level before things heat up in the middle east and we have supply crunches due to the cold weather ahead of us. >> next week we have the final fit meeting of the year. the jobs report and everything we have been seeing. phil: we will see the fed continue on the same path

republicans are holding the global economy hostage over the fiscal cliff. >> susie: and apple shares get of the most widely owned stocks sees heavy trading. >> tom: that and more tonight on "n.b.r." >> susie: big job cuts today at one of the nation's biggest banks. citigroup announced it's slashing 4% of its staff; that works out to 11,000 jobs worldwide. the cuts will save the bank more than $1 billion a year in expenses. but they won't be cheap, resulting in a billion-dollar charge against fourth-quarter earnings. is this gloomy news from citi the beginning of other companies doing the same? suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: 11,000 jobs are a lot of layoffs, even for a bank as huge as citi. and there could be more. that's because the monster firm is still struggling to recover from the great recession even though it has fired a lot of other workers in the last few years. the thing is, citi has a new c.e.o. in michael corbat, and experts say he's anxious to make his mark, even if that includes cutting staff. and the need to slim down is not unique to citi; it's industry- wide. a f

, memo to the president and congress -- ♪ you are now screwing up this fiscal cliff stuff royally with your hard line positions and your ridiculous protestations that you can't compromise. here's why. we are close, very close right now, within our grasps, to becoming the leader of the world when it comes to technology, innovation, natural resources, and finance. you are the only thing standing in our way. you are our ball and you are our chain. we saw glimmers of it today. like today dow rallies 40 points, s&p gained .33%, nasdaq .52%. whether it's the ceos of the biggest of the big,or the smallest of the small. tonight's guest of lumber liquidators, the intransigence the mean-spirited debates, the pledge is not to raise taxes, it's costing this nation a once in a lifetime opportunity to reassert itself as the leader of the free world. and faster growing the repressive communist world to boot. your inability to give us a deal, any deal is crushing our economy. allow me to explain. since i read @jimcramer on twitter, people say i'm biased. i believe that the compromise which all th

think we get to 85 and then rebounds and get back up to the 88-89 level. the fiscal cliff talks not going anywhere yet. during the next two weeks we will start to see some positive remarks. one thing that is very interesting, heat and oil settled in a very weak position. those two coming off could take the energy complex down much further. right now only 85 to 85.10. cheryl: we have plenty of supply out there right now. we are in the middle of winter. >> we have a tremendous amount of supply. we do not have much cold weather coming up near term. once the fiscal cliff starts getting resolved, you will see some buying going on. cheryl: bobby, i want to go back to you about europe. we have not had a lot of problees. seems like the greeks are kind to getting things. >> the last few days, europe markets have been pretty strong. as you said, a sleeping giant. cheryl: i do not want to see anything change. it has been nice. gentlemen, thank you. i appreciate it. great floor show today. uncertainty seems to be the norm in washington these days. last year you have the debt ceiling convey. con

projects on hold, though, fiscal cliff. yep, the obstacle is washington, all because of the need to sock it to the 2%, not the 1.5% and the over $400,000 crowd, the 1%, or the need to fulfill the anti-tax pledge of allegiance many of our congressmen made to my college chum grover norquist. i thought bill gates and chief justice roberts were powerful. he makes the other guys look like crash dummies. we're on the cusp of an economic boom in this country. but we have politicians that would rather create a recession, a mandated economic collapse, let's create a bear market versus rising above. and guess what? these enemies of wealth and job creation may get their way and win. yes, to borrow a phrase from my own rant last time we were on the brink of a washington-inspired financial disaster, they know nothing. shawn in illinois. shawn? >> caller: hello, jim. >> what's up, chief? >> caller: booyah from chicago land. >> done. speak to me. >> caller: i've been watching blizzard for some time now, and i just heard a report that their sales revenue from call of duty black ops 2 has topped $1

money" begins right now. >>> it's all we've heard about since the election. >> fiscal cliff. >> fiscal cliff. >> fiscal cliff. >> fiscal cliff. >> but why doesn't the market care? let's find out right now. >>> live from the nasdaq market site in new york city's time square, i'm melissa lee. here are tonight's top three trades. solving the apple mystery. want to know what's behind apple's troubles this week? we here at "fast" have gotten to the bottom of the selloff. we'll tell you what it means. plus, freeport fizzles. the fine print on why the company's two big buys are raising big red flags. >>> and nat gas revolution, the government says exporting nat gas could be a game changer for america's economy, but at what cost? we'll take a deeper dive to find some answers. but first, our top story tonight. >>> everyone cares about the fiscal cliff, except, seemingly, the markets. just 25 days until the year end deadline and still no deal out of washington. still stocks quietly climb higher. the dow closing today at a one-month high. what gives? just an assumption that a deal -- >> it almost

bartiromo at the new york stock exchange. as we hurry toward the edges of the fiscal cliff, this market holding its breath. but holding up. >> yes, so far. technology one of the few bright spots with apple rebounding after that huge decline we saw yesterday. its worst day in four years. it's got everybody on wall street scratching their heads trying to figure out what the problem is with apple. at any rate, here's where we stands right now. sort of a meandering day for the markets. some economic data out this morning. the market responding to that. then a sideways move after that. the nasdaq benefitting from the rebound in technology yesterday. up 11.5 points on the thatnasda. the s&p is also trading higher. there it is. up 2.5 points on the s&p. >> meanwhile, bullish sentiment at an eight-month high right now. equity allocation is still at the lowest level of the year according to the american association of individual investors survey that was out this weekend. stock in a wait-and-see mode. totally understandable until these fiscal issues are resolved. >> but don't just sit on your ha

hiring may be short- lived, but experts worry fiscal cliff concerns could result in a new storm brewing for workers looking to land a job in the coming weeks. suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> tom: citi and the financials lead the way higher on wall street, helping the dow top 13,000 again. but a big drop in apple shares kept the nasdaq from gains. by the closing bell, the dow was up 82 points, the nasdaq down 23, the s&p added two points. >> susie: investors were also encouraged by news that american workers were very productive this past summer, and that's good news for company profits. productivity increased at its fastest pace in two years, at an annual rate of 2.9% from july through september. that number blows away the initial estimate of 1.9%. erika miller takes a closer look at how technology is helping to boost safety and productivity. >> reporter: three years ago, this long island hospital had a problem: healthcare workers weren't cleaning their hands as often as required. >> 100,000 people die each year in the united states from hospital acquired infections. that's more t

on the fiscal cliff. the president did speak publicly about it today. but we haven't exactly taken any step backwards either on wall street as far as the major averages go. we have had more special dividends declared, which we'll get to. first, get you caught up on the markets. kind of a meandering day. a few economic bits of data out today. other than that, not a lot going on as far as economic data go. we're all just waiting to see that white puff of smoke come out of washington and nothing yet so far. the dow virtually unchanged right now at 12,966. the nasdaq is down seven points right now. we'll talk with seema mody about that. and the s&p 500 index at this hour is down 1.80 in change at 1407. in today's "closing bell" exchange, we go over what is going on as we head toward the end of the year. seema mody is at the nasdaq today. jeff, what do you make of what's going on in washington? i'm most interested in the fact that the markets have lost the volatili volatility. we're not seeing the markets respond to every single statement that comes out of washington right now. what do

. >> thanks peter. always good to see you. again our two fiscal cliff portfolios for the first time since the election of november 6th, they are betting we will not go over the fiscal cliff interestingly enough. right now the dow up just 15 points as we head towards the close. much more to come on the second hour of "closing bell." >>> and it's that time of day. it's 4:00 p.m. here on wall street. maria will be back in the seat tomorrow. as the clock winds down to the fiscal cliff deadline, this is how we're finishing on wall street. at this stage it looks like we got a gain of only 14 points for the dow. obviously we were higher than that, not much more but were higher earlier in the day. the nasdaq up by only eight points and the s&p finishing up by just a trickle of positive. well, ticktock. the market is closed. seems to be waiting once again for some clear signal on what's going to happen with regards to the fiscal cliff. how can you make money in the final trading sessions of the year amongst all this uncertainty? >> we have definite answers coming with our panel. back with us

november. some of the noises that are we are starting to hear out of the fiscal cliff discussions mailing the rates where they are. that will, of course help utilities. take a look at that excelled you. liz: that is exactly what we are doing. natural gas. it is up 4%. crude moving lower. tell me about that moves and natural gas today. that is no small chunk of change. >> it is kind of funny. everyone has different stories. i kind of feel left out here. it was a gooddmove on natural gas today. my primary focus is on crude. going forward, from here, i think we are just in a range. we got up to $90 on monday. i think we will staff a little higher. if we do go over the fiscal cliff, how long we stay there for stock. liz: you start to see some real moves and action at those levels. >> $90, we came right back off. until we get a more infinitive idea of where we are going, that is when you think we will see the build up above $92. until then, we are in a range between 90 and $85. you should just say armageddon on 12 / 12. liz: so great to see you on the floor show. they were simply the best way

a cliffhanger for homeowners. how tumbling over the fiscal cliff could affect the housing recovery. in today's cover story, coffee bean prices are dramaticly lower. why the price of some cups of joe remains the same. plus, a breakdown of the recent jobs data. what sector is still struggling? what you can expect to pay at the gas pump this holiday season. and, this year's literary sensation made for a very merry christmas for workers at a publishing house. first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's monday, december 10th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: traders are watching for a santa claus rally, but it's not happening for tech yet. on friday the dow finished off a 3-session winning streak, but the nasdaq lost more ground as apple continues to sink tech stocks. gold rallied above $1,700 an ounce, while oil pulled back. aig reports its losses from damage and destruction caused by superstorm sandy will be $1.3 billion. it's green monday. the second monday in december is considered a cr

people by surprise. >> it's a fiscal cliff decline. this is the greatest capital gains generator of our lifetime. i would love to see what the gains are going to be next year. but i would be saying you need to sell it. we have no idea where the capital gains are going to go, we're going to go over the fiscal cliff, what do you have to lose, the rates are going to go up. i don't think it makes any difference two tim geithner says. >> it is so widely held by so many who want to play the stock market, let's say, beyond just the capital gains, whether it's in taxable account organization not and it also has the psychological impact that this is the one that i'm going to get out of because i'm afraid of what's coming in general? >> this is the stock, yes, it's cheap, now once it goes down, we have a million reasons, well, it's a nokia phone, well, it's china. ipad miniis available. this is a stock that's so widely owned. it reminds me of sirius satellite. every doctor, every dentist owns apple. they don't know the price per share, they just know it is the proxy for the market. >> they ju

the fiscal cliff. is that what democrats want us to do? pictures seem so. we go live to capitol hill in 10 minutes. while congress talked about wanting to cut excess spending, the numbers may tell a different story. i will break it down coming up next. ally bank. why they have a raise your rate cd tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in econocs, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise ur rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally. gerri: where would we be without senator tom coburn? without the oklahoma taxpayer dollars? this fellow brought us this image. your member this? the shrimp on on the treadmill. does anyone have? @%e national science foundation studying the effects on disease. they decided to do this, and they spend 500,000 taxpayer dollars doing this study. if you can get scientists to waste money, the senator is back with another study. this time uncovering waste of the department of homeland security. and there was plent

counting down the hours the fiscal cliff deadline, we have somebody who says this isn't the real fiscal cliff at december 31 isn't the real deadline to watch. we will tell you what it isn't how you might want to play it. david: how do i go flyfishing with paul volcker? or maybe lunch with business titans. how you can do those experiences with some of the top minds. liz: what drove the market with the "data download." david: if it is in ontana, i would take it. liz: stocks pushed into the green with all the major indices pushing into the green. longest winning streak in nearly two months. potatoes and industrials were the top perffrming sectors while they could not quite get it. oil for the fifth day in a row slip into a three-week low on concern over the italian prime minister resignation soon and the impact on europe's debt crisis. crude and in the day down $0.37 $85.56 per barrel. gasoline has come down $0.10 over the past few weeks. korn falling to a three-week low so far i'm growing demand overseas for supplies from the u.s. soybeans also dropping on slowing demand. david: peter ken

lot to chew on over the weekend with the sunday talk shows, focusing on the fiscal cliff. it looks like we're looking at a lower open for the dow. as for the action in europe, really, the action focuses on italy where there's an impending political regime change. more on that in just a moment. the road map starts at the golden arches. mcdonald's blowing out expectations for november sales after the dismal drop in the month of october. hoping to fuel the rise, the bacon/onion/cheddar sandwich. >> there's one thing for certain, taxes on top earners are going up. >> turmoil in italy. berlusconi throws his hat in the ring. retail sales numbers out of china, hoping the economy is in fact on an upswing. >> apple, enthusiasm. jeffreys trimming its price target to 800 from 900, as apple shares do trade lower in the pre-market. we'll start with mcdonald's, posting better than expected november same-store sales, global comps up 2.4. u.s. same-store sales up 2.5, offered by breakfast offerings, including that cheddar/bacon/onion sandwich, as melissa mentioned. jim? people are saying the u.s.

progress in washington on the fiscal cliff. the nasdaq continues to be dragged down by apple. >> apple's had a tough week. we'll get into that coming up. we're still looking for a deal on capitol hill, surprise, surprise. all to keep us from going over the fiscal cliff. just in case, though, we've got some experts on happened to help you protect your money. here's how we stand right now, though. it's been a generally positive day for some of the blue chip averages. the dow among them. up 57 points right now, near the highs of the session at 13,003 and change. the nasdaq continues lower. you can blame apple. technology suffering as a result today, down 12 points right now at 2977. the s&p is up 2.25 points at 1416. with less than an hour to go in the trading week, another week without a deal to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. while today's positive jobs report did give markets a boost early on, it wasn't enough to get a significant rally going and to continue it on. so what's it going to take to get some conviction back in this market? >> that's in today's "closing bell" exchange. gent

. there's just 25 dais left to stop the u.s. from going over the fiscal cliff. staff and speaker john boehner's office telling fox business the lines of communication open, but it's an empty house in washington. look at these pictures. house members on their long weekend break, and the senate is out until monday, but not before working out logistics for a big event. a private screening of steven spielberg's lincoln at the capital. now, harry reid using his time to take a special waiver to allow unbuttered popcorn in the auditorium. that's what passes for work these days. the president's holding another campaign style event as the middle class families, and with more, michael burgess of texas. congressman, great to have you object show again. >> great to be with you, thank you. gerri: everything's hanging in the banse, economy, middle class income, taxes, you name it, and you and your fellow house members are not going to work. >> well, wait, this is a 24-hour day job, seven days a week. i'm in new york tomorrow looking at the hospitals affected in hurricane sandy, and i feel like i ne

, believe it ornts, headlines and the fiscal cliff. we'll look at sectors that tend to do best in what is traditionally a good month for the bulls. >>> first interview, david faber is going to join us with the ceo of charter communications. that is thomas rudd ledtledge. we'll get his take on the economy and the company's growth plan. a cnbc exclusive. >>> would you get a mortgage from that girl? no, from walmart. a lot of people say they would. what's that all about? we're going to run it down later on "power lunch." >>> we start with my partner sue herera in the center of the action downtown at the nyse. >> stocks are slightly lower right now despite those fiscal cliff anxieties. they've been pretty steady throughout the day. the s&p 500 broke above its 50-day moving average, believe it or not. earlier in the day it's backed off a little bit. economic news and new data shows u.s. manufacturing falling to its lowest level in three years. and there is a little nervousness about the president taking to twitter at 2:00 p.m. eastern time to talk about the fiscal cliff negotiations that are g

egypt. david: egypt, the fiscal cliff, so much uncertainty. where do you put your money? go to the big caps. look at the winners among the big cats. not huge, but this is where people are puttinggtheir money. they want it in safety. they are not putting it in gold. if you have to be in the market, go to the big cats. that's what's happening. liz: president obama discussing the fiscal cliff, and, plus, speaking live to the iowa governor, his state facing a double whammy if we go over the cliff. what compromises he'd love to see come out of washington, and how he believes they could reach them. this is a guy who deals with the democratic senate, so, really, he knows how to cross the aisle to make it happen. david: somebody else you know about, with all the talk about tax increases, the idea of a simple flat tax dead? we'll see. forbes doesn't think so. there's a news conference along with washington lawmakers to push for the flat tax. he joins us later this hour. liz: first, what drove the marketings for today's data download. stocks ending lower, struggling for direction most of the

geopolitical risk. we're talking about fiscal cliff, and we're forgetting about the weak economy in the uk. there are two things that i'm watching. i'm looking at central banks around the world constituent adding physical gold to their coffers to the opportunity of 400 tons. and a new investor class, the etp, investors holding 2600 tons of gold and the fourth largest holder. so when i start watching, if we start reducing those levels, maybe the top is in. by the way, the dollar is closer to the lows than it is to the highs, so keep an eye on the dollar as well. >> okay. it sounds like it's too early to call in your view. let's look at what goldman is cowling for. they're cutting their 3, 6 and 12-month targets. do you agree with those levels where you see it going long term and short term? >> jackie, you know, the numbers we have to watch right now, i don't know if i necessarily agree with those numbers. but the numbers we're looking at right now are the numbers we have covered on this show a few times. it's 1675 to 1672. that's the big support there. if we get through that, we'll see 1

are traders telling you? ? >> this is what they are saying. waiting for news on the fiscal cliff and what ben bernanke if he have anything to say about the fiscal cliff after two-day meeting by federal reserve. they are also watching for bond action. i want to touch on something you were saying. mcdonald's, a a contributor to the dow strength. these are contributing, very moderate strength. we are seeing strength and materials, healthcare industrials, that where mcdonald's trades, they are lower today. one of the reasons we were talking about same store sales and mcdonald's being stronger, that is a boost to its stock. but we have seen a pull back, most notably the gap before pressure. disappointed and a number of retailers did. that number is a mixed as we head toward thursday. the retailers on the retail sales figures for the month of november. quickly, touch on one deal today. honeywell making acquisition of intermac. $10 a share. honeywell, it wasn't unexpected. started taking a leg down on that. brian back to you. >> mary, thank you. >>> part of what is giving the market move to

, it made big moves to the upside. i think this is all fiscal cliff and tax related selling here. i don't think it's core, that rumor that because they moved up margins -- >> what do you do? your brother says stay away. >> i think he's right. you don't add to it until the final weeks of december. >> he didn't say stay away. >> did he say buy it? >> he said own it. >> if he thinks it's going up. >> if he loves it so much, why don't you buy more here? absolutely. on november 16th the stock rallied, took a little bit off, and i still believe on a tact tactical basis that's the right move, at least for me. longer-term time frame it is generational. it looks most like a bond. it's a bond-friendly type of asset. that's why i want to own it. now, john and pete are talking about what potentially could turn it. you have to look forward into the earnings season and understand the potential for the number of iphones to be sold to hit 50 million. now, the reason that it was down 9 of 11 weeks, why did that begin? it began on the conversation of iphone five constraints. you wanted to order an ip

number. i think only u.s. government now can stop this kind of job growth. a fiscal cliff go over -- >> snatching victory from the jaws. >> a superstorm. nothing can stop the generation of jobs in this economy. >> there's a great article today in one of the papers about how apartment building, we have a shortage of apartments and shortage of housing and shortage of autos and shortage of office buildings developing, shortage of shopping centers, shortage of shopping malls. this is what begins a movement. you have to hire eventually. now you could say people are not looking for work, come on. look, jobs are here. they can -- it can be just easily reversed if you have no idea what is the future because of washington. >> given the data points that we've had in terms of claims numbers that did reflect an impact from sandy, they said 85,000 jobs or 86,000 jobs were sliced because of impact of sandy. average hours worked unchanged. doesn't that -- i don't know -- doesn't that bring into question a little bit the participation in the survey. how can it have no impact whatsoever? it seems

town. in washington news, both parties hinting at renewed talks on the fiscal cliff. the acknowledgement of open lines of communication passed for encouraging news. a new survey finds more than 60% of leading investment professionals predict a shorp stock decline in the market if the government fails to come up with a deal. in this case defined as a more than 10% drop in the dow. 56% surveyed foresee a deal to avoid the cliff by year end, 44% predict failure in the ongoing negotiations. as for corporate america, through yesterday's close, there have been # 70 announcements of special dividends. these special difference deebds are valueded a more than $30.1 billion. among the latest names, mcgraw hill will pay a special dividends of $2.50 a share before year end. and drop its previously announced plan to buy back up to $200 million more of stock this year. >> everybody's paid their dividends this year, so they won't be paying them next year. >> this is a major issue. what's going to happen is -- we have two great economists onset. but that money will get annualized, so the